A Friend in Need

"Wait here. A vehicle will be here shortly."

Shinei turned his back and entered the building again. It seemed like he still had some things to do in there. I wasn't sure what this empty depot meant to them, but, well, I couldn't care less. I had different things in my concern.

There were two men keeping an eye on us. They were armed, but I was sure that I could deal with them. It wasn't a good idea, though. There were more people in the depot than I thought, and we couldn't escape in that situation anyway. The most logical choice would be to wait calmly.

On the other side, Misaki didn't seem well. He was probably worried about his sister. That was quite understandable; she was the only one left from his family after all. Now he was risking both his and her lives because of a simple mistake of mine. Maybe he wasn't blaming me, but I was. That was something I should have noticed earlier, but I was way too distracted with other things. And now here we are. Although seemingly free, in reality our lives were in the hands of our enemies, and we were, so to speak, in captivity.

Finally, a car pulled up right in front of us. They haven't said anything about where we were heading. I had no intention to learn it, honestly. There were three of them, yet they were at a disadvantage because of the narrow space inside the car. However, the real problem was Misaki. Since they didn't let us talk, there was no way for him to know about the plans I had in mind. I was ready to take action, but it'd be too hard without Misaki. Only if he made the first move...

That gave me an idea.

"Hey, I have a question."

"You're not allowed to talk until we arrive at our destination," said the man in front.

"Even though we are partners now?"

"We will be partners soon, but there's no such thing right now. Just be quiet and wait patiently."

"Well, that would be boring."

"I bet if I put a bullet through your head, all your boredom would go away. Stop pushing your luck, kid."

It was kind of unfortunate to have a gun, specifically a pistol aiming right in the middle of my head, honestly. But at least, Misaki's attention was on his surroundings again. I decided to keep pushing my limit just a little bit more. Certainly, Misaki would do the right thing. I was trusting in him. From his perspective, I was captured by the Miyazaki family because of him, while I needed to be with Tatsumi. That's why I was sure about this little chance. All I needed was more tension, and maybe a little bit of distraction. Just a little bit more...

"I don't think Lady Olya would like it."

"I said shut your mouth!"

"Put the gun down, Jun," said the driver. He was distracted as well, just as I wanted.

"Hey! Who are you siding with?"

"He's right, Jun. Put it down," I repeat sarcastically.

"That little brat wants to die, can't you see?"

"Just put it down, goddamn it!"

That was the chaos I wanted. Now the other two men were trying to calm him down. I glanced at Misaki out of the corner of my eye; he was fully back to his senses now. He was focused on the man, who pointed a gun at me. And with that, everything was ready to make a move.

I delivered a quick punch to the yakuza, who sat between me and Misaki. Then I grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard to prevent him from reaching his pistol. At the same time, Misaki kicked the front seat. The one who already held the pistol lost his balance, only for the moment. However, it was more than enough. Misaki quickly grabbed the man's throat and started to strangle him. The driver, distracted by the chaos, almost lost control of the vehicle. Inevitably, the man in the front seat lost his consciousness. Misaki grabbed the gun from him and pointed it at the driver.

"Stop the car," said Misaki, with no fear or hesitation in his voice.

Honestly, Misaki's reaction was faster than I expected. Adrenaline and survival instincts really took over in such situations. The driver had no other choice but to listen to us. The guy I twisted his wrist was in pain. I reached out his pistol and took it for myself. Soon enough, the driver pulled over and stopped the car.

"Give my regards to Miyazaki Shinji," I said before getting out of the car. I was smiling, but it was mostly because of my anger. After we were sure they were completely unarmed, we let them go. Streets were kind of empty, probably because of the war. Obviously, the safest option for civilians was to stay at home.

"Maybe we should have killed them," said Misaki.

"That was certainly an option. However, it wouldn't change anything. Getting your hands dirty is a really bad thing, trust me."

"You talked like you have done it before."

"Let's just say fate had different plans for me."

"If you say so."

I was feeling tired, to be honest. It was all mentally exhausting. Yet, the war was not over; I had to get back to the mansion as soon as possible.

"Let's go to the Kurokawa's mansion now. It will be safer in there."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But I need to stay beside my sister. I can't leave her alone."

"Wouldn't that put her in danger? They will probably come after us."

"That's the reason. They can go after my sister instead. I can't risk it."

He was right; they already knew about her sister. It would have been safer that way, so I didn't complain.

"Alright then, I'll talk with Mr. Kurokawa just in case. Let's see if there's something we can do about that."

"Thank you, Matsui, for everything."

"Don't mention it. You'd do the same."

He didn't say anything afterwards. We separated our ways from there. I could have called for a vehicle in a different situation, but now I had to walk all my way to the mansion. It wasn't too far away, but I didn't want to waste any more time. I had to tell them about the Tiger Clan. It wasn't just a normal war anymore; it was whole another threat that targeted the future of the country.

It's been around four hours since the first attack from the Miyazaki family. The Yamakawas would soon take action. We needed their power; they were our only hope. The Tiger Clan currently had very little influence on the country, that's why they were in search of a puppet. The Miyazakis weren't enough, and I doubt even we could satisfy their greed. They were planning to end this war before the arrival of Yamakawas. And in that regard, they were certainly going to target the mansion.

I was someone with no power. I'm, in fact, very weak in this new world. Still, I promised myself; even if I had to tear apart anyone who stood in my way, I would make sure I would never regret it again.